August 31, 2009

The Dallas Morning News has posted a video about the story of T. K. and Deidrea Laux, an evangelical couple who decided to give birth
to their son, Thomas, despite the fact that he had the DNA abnormality
Trisomy 13.

There isn't a person I know who's watched this who hasn't ended up crying like a baby - this is what happens when we come face-to-face with the realities of a broken world and the curse-reversing effects of a love fueled by the gospel.

June 30, 2008

One of the unintended consequences of teaching our children to pursue holiness is that they can begin to expect or assume that everyone they come into contact with has grown up walking that same path.

Case in point - watching something die in the heart of a student who finds out that his girlfriend or her boyfriend has previous sexual experience. Mind you, this took place before this particular relationship had begun, so we're not talking about betrayal within the relationship.

But the situation is no less devastating - the dream of a first kiss or first touch dies with that confession. But my greater concern is that somehow our parenting has traded in the gospel for religion. To the degree that we not only call our children to personal holiness but (unintentionally) demand the same for their friends or even future spouses, are we discounting the transforming power of grace?

Is the young woman who has been changed by the gospel, leading her to confess to her fiancee that she has a sexual history - is she now damaged goods, suffering from evangelical leprosy, unfit to be loved by someone who grew up dreaming of a virginal bride? Can any good Christian girl stay together with a guy who confesses that he struggles with porn or same-sex attraction?

December 19, 2007

I've really liked Anthony Bradley since I heard him speak at the Reform and Resurge Conference in Seattle in '06. I liked him even more after hanging out in the back of a hotel ballroom in Atlanta during the 2006 PCA General Assembly.

I've thought Anthony is an important voice in the continuing conversation called the Gospel - particularly because of his concern about what the church has done and is doing to men - the image in your head should be Jackie Sherrill castrating a bull.

Oh, and then for grins and giggles, read what Anthony posted over at the World Magazine blog about the role that growing up in a conservative suburban evangelical church may have played in leading Matthew Murray to go on a shooting spree in Colorado recently. I'm not going to lie to you - I spend alot of time with students at UGA who haven't gotten to where Murray was, but they're pissed off and confused because what they got growing up in church was something other than or in addition to Jesus and it's done nothing but jack up their world. And like Murray, more than a few guys that I know who don't fit the 'influential, extroverted, key guy' stereotype that many churches and ministries target live with a lot of bitterness and flat-out anger that they don't know what to do with. Massive problem.

And here's one last post from Anthony - his net worth is somewhere in the neighborhood of $-50,000. I post that only because I'm swimming in the same financially choppy water - $40,000 of student loans will do that to you. For me and Lindsey, that means we're starting our own Total Money Makeover thanks to Dave Ramsey - we'll keep you posted.

Finding childrens' story Bibles that actually focus on the story of the gospel is more difficult than it needs to be. Al Mohler provides a great service in posting about two great resources for younger children here and a resource for older kids here.